Living With Men Is Bad For Your Health
Living with Men is a Health Risk for Women
By Sharnellia Bennett-Smith
Staten Island, NY - The data does not lie—cohabitation with men significantly increases a woman’s risk of experiencing violence, injury, and even death. The most dangerous place for a woman is often her own home, and the greatest threat comes not from strangers but from the men she lives with: husbands, boyfriends, fathers, and even sons.
Domestic homicide statistics paint an unforgiving picture. In the United States, the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting program shows that more than 90% of female homicide victims are killed by men, and the most common perpetrators are intimate partners or male relatives. A 2022 study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that over 55% of all female homicide victims were killed by a current or former intimate partner. This is not an anomaly; it is a pattern.
Globally, the numbers are just as grim. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) reported in 2022 that 81,000 women and girls were killed worldwide, with over half (56%) murdered by intimate partners or family members. This means that a woman is more likely to be murdered inside her own home than anywhere else.
Women who cohabit with men do not just face lethal violence—they endure daily physical and psychological abuse that takes a serious toll on their health. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that one in three women worldwide has experienced physical or sexual violence, most often at the hands of an intimate partner. This exposure to violence correlates with higher rates of depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and even chronic illnesses like heart disease due to prolonged stress responses.
Mothers, too, are not safe from the men in their homes. Sons, particularly those raised in patriarchal environments that reinforce male entitlement, can be dangerous to their own mothers. In the United States, matricide (the killing of one's mother) is a well-documented phenomenon, with the majority of cases perpetrated by sons rather than strangers. A 2019 study published in the journal Violence and Gender found that over 70% of matricide cases involve a son killing his mother, often after years of domestic abuse.
Daughters growing up in male-dominated households face heightened risks of incest, physical abuse, and psychological trauma. The Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN) reports that 93% of child sexual abuse perpetrators are male, and the vast majority are family members or close acquaintances. A home with men is statistically a home where girls are at risk.
These are not abstract fears—they are evidence-backed realities. Women who live with men must navigate daily threats that erode their physical and mental well-being. Whether it is a husband, a father, or a son, the most significant source of violence against women is men they know and trust. The numbers prove it, and no amount of wishful thinking or ideological reframing changes that fact.
